Key Pro-SSM Leader in Massachusetts Convicted of Bribery

A federal jury in Boston on Wednesday convicted Salvatore DiMasi, the former speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for corruption connected to the awarding of state contracts.

DiMasi, who resigned in January 2009 amid a scandal, was convicted of a total of seven of nine counts against him, while a lobbyist named Richard McDonough was convicted of six of eight counts against him...

The scandal blew up in a series of reports in the Boston Globe in 2008, after which DiMasi told a law associate to “lose his check register” showing the payments, evidence at trial showed. DiMasi also lied to his press secretary about his associate, and about Lally’s connection to the software company, according to prosecutors.

“The citizens of Massachusetts put extraordinary trust in Mr. DiMasi, and he betrayed that trust when he chose to conspire with his friends to use his office in order to line his pockets, and theirs,” said Carmen M. Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, in a statement.